1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for assisting in a service of an endoscopic examination performed in a medical institution, etc., and more particularly, to a technique for managing the use of an endoscope.
2. Description of the Related Art
As techniques for assisting in a service of an endoscopic examination, the techniques disclosed by Japanese Patent Publications Nos. 2001-46326 and 2002-73615 are known.
Among these techniques, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-46326 discloses a system managing the use status or the cleaning state of an endoscope part in an endoscope system. This system has a function for displaying the recommended maintenance timing of an endoscope by year and month for each endoscope. The year and month of the recommended maintenance timing is decided based on the number of times that an examination is performed with the endoscope, the number of times that the endoscope is inserted/removed in/from an endoscope system, the number of times (the number of releases) that an endoscopic image is recorded with the endoscope, and an accumulated use time of the endoscope. Accordingly, as the use frequency of the endoscope significantly changes, its year-and-month display constantly changes.